US wet blue holds its value

New figures from the US Hide Skin and Leather Association (USHSLA) show that exports of hides from the US in the first four months of 2019 reached 8.3 million in volume, generating $435.3 million in value.

These figures mean declines compared to the same months in 2018 of 13.5% in volume and of 23.6% in value.

Almost 6.9 million of the hides shipped between January and April 2019 were wet salted, a decrease of 15% compared to the same months last year. These wet salted hides brought in export revenues of $284.4 million, which is more than 30% down on the total for the same months in 2018.

For wet blue, the 2019 figure was more than 1.4 million hides, with a value of close to $151 million. Compared to the first four months of 2018, these exports were down by 7% in volume, but by the comparatively small amount of 4% in value.

This means that, while the average price of US wet salted hides was $51.27 in the first four months of last year, it fell to $41.38 in the first part of this year. Therefore, the price of wet salted hides during this period in 2019 was almost 20% lower than a year earlier.

In the January-April period last year, the average export price of a wet blue hide from the US was $101.15. But in the same months in 2019, the price was higher, $104.35. The value of wet blue hides were 3.1% higher in the first four months of 2019 than a year earlier.

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